The Giants’ outfielder leads the club in hits and RBIs thanks to a revamped swing

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San Francisco Giants’ Mac Williamson (51) heads to second base on his double against the St. Louis Cardinals in the second inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday, September 3, 2017. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.–The Giants already have a starting left fielder and a starting right fielder, but if the team was looking for a tight end, Mac Williamson could play the part.

At 6-foot-4 and 237 pounds, Williamson is an imposing physical presence who looks like he’d have as much ease bowling over safeties as he does launching batting practice home runs.

Since the Giants drafted Williamson out of Wake Forest in 2012, he’s never had an issue looking the part. It’s fulfilling all of his athletic potential that hasn’t come so easily.

Williamson has appeared in 92 games across three seasons with San Francisco, but he’s never forced his way into the lineup on a consistent basis. Even after becoming a spring darling in 2015 and 2016, Williamson didn’t earn an extended opportunity to showcase his skills at the Major League level. He started regularly in July of 2016, playing in 20 games, but aside from that stretch and a stint at the end of last September, Williamson has rarely had a consistent chance to show what he’s capable of.

His inconsistent playing time spurred inconsistent results.

Those inconsistent results led Williamson on a search.

“The basic ideas and principles are being balanced throughout the swing, getting everything moving in the right direction toward the pitcher,” Williamson said, when asked to break down the revamped swing he’s showing off this spring. “Try to have minimal wasted movement and try to get my hands down a little bit and be more quiet.”

After watching former Sacramento River Cats teammate Tim Federowicz hit last year, Williamson asked his catcher for tips. Federowicz passed Williamson onto a pair of hitting coaches, Doug Latta and Craig Wallenbrock, and over the offseason, Williamson overhauled his mechanics at the plate.

Williamson’s first conversation with Latta came before the Giants’ September 24 showdown with Clayton Kershaw in Los Angeles last year. After a morning meeting, Williamson went 3-for-3 with a home run.

Latta didn’t have Williamson tinker with much that day, but they changed quite a bit this winter.

When Williamson arrived at Giants’ camp this spring, he did so knowing where he stood on the club’s depth chart. Because he still has a Minor League option available, Williamson recognized the odds aren’t necessarily in his favor when it comes to earning a 25-man roster spot.

That mentality hasn’t changed what he’s accomplishing.

“If you come out in spring training and absolutely blow the doors off of it and force the issue, you just make the decision tough on them,” Williamson said.

In the first half of Cactus League play, Williamson leads all Giants’ players with 10 hits, six extra base hits and 12 runs batted in. He’s clearly outplaying his competition for backup corner outfield spots, including Jarrett Parker, who has struck out in 15 of 23 at-bats this spring.

While Parker and Williamson aren’t the only names the Giants are considering, they’ve made the evaluation process more difficult for the franchise’s decision-makers. Should the Giants prioritize starting hot and rewarding top spring performers with 25-man roster spots? Or should they stash outfielders like Williamson, Steven Duggar and Austin Slater in Triple-A because they have options in favor of Parker, Gregor Blanco and Gorkys Hernandez?

It’s a difficult balance for San Francisco, but it’s important to maintain long-term perspective. The Giants may start the season with five outfielders on the Opening Day roster, but they’ll need more than five outfielders to make it through the regular season.

“It’s not going to be the 25 guys that break camp, it’s going to be the 30 or 37 guys that end up playing for us this year that are going to make the difference,” Slater said.

The fact two players with options, Williamson and Slater, grasp the business aspects of the Giants’ upcoming decisions is helpful for the club.

Manager Bruce Bochy isn’t tipping his hand yet, but after Wednesday’s tie against the Padres, he referenced certain outfielders being “longer shots” than others to make the club.

“If you look at our outfielders that are in camp here, all of them are in the mix,” Bochy said. “Sometimes you have two or three young guys and you know they’re going down, but all of our guys are the mix.”

Williamson and Slater qualify as “long shots,” but if they don’t make the big league club out of spring, the odds are strong they’ll help the Giants at some point during the 2018 season. With three spots locked down by players over 30 –Hunter Pence, Andrew McCutchen and Austin Jackson– the Giants are hopeful the other two outfield jobs will be filled by players who can perform with greater consistency.

After struggling to prove he can do that in past opportunities, Williamson’s revamped swing has given him a much better chance.

“I just need to continue to stick with it and I feel like it’s a long-term solution to struggles and consistency I’ve had in the past,” Williamson said.

Kerry Crowley is a multimedia beat reporter covering the San Francisco Giants. He spent his early days throwing curveballs in San Francisco’s youth leagues before studying journalism at Arizona State University. Kerry has covered every level of baseball, from local preps to the Cape Cod League, and is now on a quest to determine which Major League city serves the best cheeseburger.